The present invention relates generally to the field of direct-view optical microscopes and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for using high-energy light from a phenomenon known as non-resonant Raman scattering to illuminate a living biological specimen.
Since their invention in the late 1500s, light microscopes have enhanced our knowledge of basic biology, biomedical research, medical diagnostics, and materials science. Although the science of microscopy has advanced to include a variety of techniques to enhance resolution, the fine-resolution observation of living biological specimens has remained elusive.
Continuing advances in microbiology require a closer and closer study of biochemical events that occur on a cellular and intracellular level. The challenge in microscopy today is not only the enhancement of finer and finer resolution, but also the development of techniques for observing biochemical events in real time, as they happen, without destroying the biological specimen in the process.
Resolution is the ability of a microscope to distinguish between two objects that are very close together. A microscope with a resolution of 1,000 xc3x85 (1,000 Angstroms; equal to 100 nanometers or 100xc3x9710xe2x88x929 meters), for example, can make objects as close together as 100 nanometers independently visible. Objects and features smaller than 100 nanometers cannot be resolved (i.e., distinguished) by this microscope. Below is a list of the resolution or practical resolving power of several types of microscopes currently available:
Although electron microscopes offer very fine resolution, the specimen must be prepared by high-vacuum dehydration and is subjected to intense heat by the electron beam, making observation of living specimens impossible. The dehydration process also alters the specimen, leaving artifacts and cell damage that were not present in nature. Also, In order to view the steps in a biological process, dozens of specimens must be viewed at various stages in order to capture each desired step in the process. The selected specimens must then be prepared. Specimen preparation can take up to two hours each.
The high cost of an electron microscope represents another barrier to its use in the life sciences. Electron microscopes are large and often require an entire room. The operation and adjustment of an electron microscope requires highly-skilled technicians, introducing yet another cost of maintaining and staffing an electron microscopy facility.
The ultraviolet microscope offers finer resolution and better magnification than an ordinary light microscope, but it has serious disadvantages for the study of living specimens. Ultraviolet light damages or kills many kinds of living biological specimens, making observation impossible.
When ultraviolet light strikes a specimen, it excites fluorescence within the molecules of the specimen so that the specimen itself emits a fluorescent light. If the specimen does not produce fluorescence naturally, it must be stained with a fluorescent dye. Many fluorescent dyes bind strongly to elements such as enzymes within living cells, changing their qualities and significantly altering the cellular biochemistry. Other dyes produce too much fluorescence or absorb too much of the ultraviolet light to be useful.
Like electron microscopes, the operation of an ultraviolet microscope requires a great deal of skill. Because ultraviolet light damages the human eye, the image can only be observed by ultraviolet video cameras or specially-equipped still cameras. Also, the quartz optics required for ultraviolet microscopes are much more expensive than the glass components used in visible light microscopes.
The electron and ultraviolet microscopes available today do no offer a technique for observing living, unaltered biological specimens in real time.
The Nature of Light
Light is sometimes referred to as a type of electromagnetic radiation because a light wave consists of energy in the form of both electric and magnetic fields. In addition to the light we can see, the electromagnetic spectrum includes radio waves, microwaves, and infrared light at frequencies lower than visible light. At the upper end of the spectrum, ultraviolet radiation, x-rays, and gamma rays travel at frequencies faster than visible light.
Wavelength is the distance between any two corresponding points on successive light waves. Wavelength is measured in units of distance, usually billionths of a meter. The human eye can see wavelengths between 400 and 700 billionths of a meter.
Frequency is the number of waves that pass a point in space during any time interval, usually one second. Frequency is measured in units of waves per second, or Hertz (Hz). The frequency of visible light is referred to as color. For example, light traveling at 430 trillion Hz is seen as the color red.
The wavelength of light is related to the frequency by this simple equation (Equation One),       f    =          c      L        ,
where c is the speed of light in a vacuum (299,792,458 meters per second), f is the frequency in Hz, and L is the wavelength in meters.
Microscope Resolution
The resolution or resolving power of a light microscope can be calculated using Abbe""s Formula,       D    =          L              2        ⁢                  (          NA          )                      ,
where D is the resolving power of a microscope in meters, L is the wavelength in meters of the light source, and NA is the numerical aperture of the microscope. The numerical aperture, generally, indicates the angle at which light strikes the specimen being viewed.
Light Scattering
When a light wave passes through a specimen, most of the light continues in its original direction, but a small fraction of the light is scattered in other directions. The light used to illuminate the specimen is called the incident light. The scattering of incident light through various specimens was studied by Lord John William Strutt, the third Baron Rayleigh (Lord Rayleigh) in the late 1800s and later by Albert Einstein and others.
Lord Rayleigh observed that a fraction of the scattered light emerges at the same wavelength as the incident light. Because of his observation, light that is scattered at the same wavelength as the incident light is a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering (also called resonant scattering or elastic light scattering).
In 1922, Arthur H. Compton observed that some of the scattered light has a different wavelength from the incident light. Compton discovered that, when light passes through a specimen, some of the light scatters off the electrons of the specimen molecules, producing scattered light in the X-ray region of the spectrum.
Raman Scattering
In 1928, Professor Chandrasekhara V. Raman and Professor K. S. Krishnan discovered that the scattered light observed by Compton was caused by vibrations within the molecules of the specimen. Because of his discovery, light that is scattered due to vibrations within the molecules of a specimen is a phenomenon called Raman scattering (also called non-resonant or inelastic light scattering). In 1930, Raman received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery.
When a specimen is bombarded with incident light, energy is exchanged between the light and the molecules of the specimen. The molecules vibrate, producing the phenomenon known as Raman scattering. The molecular vibrations cause the specimen itself to emit scattered light, some of which scatters at a higher frequency (f+xcex94f) than the incident light frequency (f), and some of which scatters at a lower frequency (fxe2x88x92xcex94f). The xcex94f represents the change in frequency (sometimes called the frequency shift) produced by Raman scattering.
In summary, when incident light strikes a specimen, the scattered light includes Rayleigh-scattered light at the same frequency (f) as the incident light, higher frequency (f+xcex94f) Raman-scattered light, and lower-frequency (fxe2x88x92xcex94f) Raman-scattered light.
Intensity Depends on the Specimen
Because Raman-scattered light is produced by molecular vibrations within the specimen, the intensity of the Raman-scattered light varies depending upon the type of specimen being viewed. For example, a specimen of blood cells may produce high-intensity Raman-scattered light, while a specimen of skin cells may produce very low-intensity Raman-scattered light.
Raman scattering is used in a variety of spectroscopy systems to study the interaction between a sample and certain types of incident light. The fact that Raman scattering varies depending on the specimen, however, has limited its direct use in the field of microscopy. Although the phenomenon of light scattering is present whenever light strikes a specimen, none of the microscopy systems available today are configured to fully harness the resolving power of Raman scattering.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a microscopy system that takes full advantage of the Raman scattering phenomenon as a source of illuminating a specimen.
There is a related need for a system for relaying and capturing the images produced by such a microscope. There is yet another related need in the art for producing and adapting the types of incident light best suited for provoking Raman scattering in a biological specimen.
There is also a need in the art for a direct-view, optical microscope with a higher resolution and magnification than is currently available.
There is further a need for an optical microscope that provides a real-time image of living biological materials, including cells and intracellular structures. There is a related need for a microscope that permits observation by the human eye and recording by readily-available photomicrographic and video equipment.
There is also a need to provide a system and method for viewing living biological specimens in their natural state, without interference from the artifacts of specimen preparation, without destroying or altering sensitive biochemical characteristics, and without killing the specimen.
There is still further a need for a high-resolution microscope that is less expensive, easy to operate, requires little or no specimen preparation, and is relatively portable and small enough for use in the field.
The above and other needs are met by the present invention which, stated generally, provides a direct-view optical microscope system that uses high-energy light from a phenomenon known as non-resonant Raman scattering to illuminate a living biological specimen.
In one aspect of the present invention, a microscope system for observing a specimen includes an optical microscope, a light source, a darkfield condenser to focus the light on the specimen, and a compound relay lens connected to the eyepiece of the microscope. The light source is ultraviolet in one embodiment. The system may also include an adapter positioned between the light source and the microscope to align the light. The system may also include a camera and a computer.
The compound relay lens of the present invention includes two relay lenses connected together to provide higher magnification than a single relay lens alone.
In another aspect, the invention provides of method of provoking enough light scattering to illuminate a specimen in an optical microscope system. The method includes illuminating a lamp that emits ultraviolet light, focusing the ultraviolet light upon the specimen using a darkfield condenser, and then magnifying the image of said specimen using said compound relay lens. The method may further include adapting the ultraviolet light for use in the microscope by positioning an adapter between the lamp and the darkfield condenser.
The method may also include the double oil immersion technique, which includes the steps of placing a drop of oil on the underside center of the slide on which the specimen rests, positioning the slide on the center of the darkfield condenser, placing a drop of oil on the top center of the cover glass, and then raising the darkfield condenser until the oil on the top of said cover glass contacts the objective lens.
In another aspect of the present invention, a microscope system is provided for illuminating and observing a specimen with scattered light from a combined light source. This system includes an optical microscope, a first light wave traveling at a first frequency, a second light wave traveling at a second frequency, an optical combiner to combine the two light waves into one, and a darkfield condenser. The combined light wave includes an additive light wave traveling at an additive frequency and a subtractive light wave traveling at a subtractive frequency. The darkfield condenser focuses the combined light upon the specimen such that the additive and subtractive light waves provoke scattered light.
In one embodiment of the two-light system, the first light wave is produced by a first light filtering system that includes a first light source emitting an unrefined light wave, a first filter, and a first filter controller. The filter controller sends a first control signal to the first filter based upon the desired frequency. The first filter then refines is the unrefined light wave into a first light wave traveling at a first frequency. The second light wave is produced by a similar second light filtering system.
The two-light system may also include a compound relay lens, a camera, and a computer. In one embodiment, the two-light system includes an optical combiner. According to the present invention, the optical combiner includes a chamber, a casing enclosing said chamber and including several input ports and an output port, and a prism assembly configured to combine two incoming light waves into a single, combined light wave and project it through the output port.
In another aspect of the two-light system of the present invention, a system for producing the first and second light waves includes a dual-channel filter and a dual-frequency filter controller. The filter controller is configured to send a primary and a secondary control signal to the filter. The dual-channel filter broadcasts the first light wave on a first channel in response to the primary control signal and, in an alternating fashion, broadcasts the second light wave on a second channel in response to the secondary control signal.
In one embodiment, each control signal produces a corresponding acoustic wave inside the dual-channel filter. The first acoustic wave interacting with the unrefined light wave produces the first light wave, and the second acoustic wave interacting with the unrefined light wave produces the second light wave.
In another embodiment, the dual-frequency filter controller includes a primary radio frequency synthesizer, a secondary radio frequency synthesizer, and a driver connecting both synthesizers to the dual-channel filter. Each radio frequency synthesizer is configured to synthesize and send a control signal via the driver to the dual-channel filter.
In another aspect of the present invention, an optical combiner for combining two light waves to produce a single combined light wave includes a chamber, a casing enclosing said chamber and including several input ports and an output port, and a prism assembly configured to combine two incoming light waves into a single, combined light wave and project it through the output port.
In one embodiment, the optical combiner also includes a beam expander connected to each input port designated for light waves emitted by a laser. The beam expander focuses and collimates each incoming laser beam before it reaches the prism.
In an alternative embodiment, the optical combiner is capable of combining a laser light wave and an ultraviolet light wave. The optical combiner is also capable of receiving a single light wave entering through any one of the input ports, and projecting the single light wave through the output port.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of modulating the combinatory phenomenon to illuminate and view a specimen in an optical microscope system with a combined light includes the steps of filtering a first unrefined light wave to produce a first light wave traveling at a first frequency, filtering a second unrefined light wave to produce a second light wave traveling at a second frequency, combining the light waves into a combined light wave, condensing the combined light, and focusing the combined light upon the specimen. The combined light wave includes an additive light wave traveling at an additive frequency and a subtractive light wave traveling at a subtractive frequency.
The method may also include placing a lower oil drop on the underside center of the slide, positioning the slide on the center of the darkfield condenser, placing an upper oil drop on the top center of the cover glass, and raising the darkfield condenser until the upper oil drop contacts the objective lens of the microscope.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a microscopy system that takes full advantage of the Raman light scattering phenomenon as a source of illuminating a specimen. It is a related object of the present invention to effectively relay the images captured by such a microscope system for maximum magnification.
It is also an object of the present invention to produce the types of incident light best suited for provoking light scattering in a biological specimen.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an optical microscope that provides a real-time image of living biological materials, including cells and intracellular structures, that permits direct observation by the human eye, and that facilitates recording by readily-available photomicrographic and video equipment.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for viewing living biological specimens in their natural state, without interference from the artifacts of specimen preparation, without destroying or altering sensitive biochemical characteristics, and without killing the specimen.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a fine-resolution, high-magnification microscope that is less expensive, easier to operate, more portable, and less labor-intensive in terms of specimen preparation than ultraviolet, electron, or other types of microscopes.
These and other objects are accomplished by the apparatus, method, and system disclosed and will become apparent from the following detailed description of one preferred embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.